Lightweight man-made board

ABSTRACT

A lightweight board has a face board, a base board, a center layer positioned between the face board and the base board, and a frame structure encircling the center layer between the face board and the base board, with the frame structure having a plurality of tubular sections. The face board, the base board and the center layer are combined to form a single unit.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to the technical field of man-made boardmaterials, and in particular, to a type of lightweight man-made board.

2. Description of the Related Art

Man-made board materials currently available on the market includeparticleboard, medium density fiberboard, plywood, etc. Since theseboards perform similarly to solid wood and are easy to process, they arewidely used in furniture manufacturing, decoration, and other fields.

Unfortunately, these board materials suffer from some disadvantageswhich limit their use in some applications. For example, since theseboard materials are relatively heavy, when they are used to manufactureexhibition panels or other shelves that require repeated transportation,they are often unable to meet the transportation weight requirements.Therefore, the user will sometimes use hollow boards as a substitute.However, this causes another problem since these hollow boards are notstrong and often become deformed because they cannot support the weightof the exhibited products placed on these shelves.

Thus, there still remains a need for a lightweight board material thatis strong enough to support heavy weights.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a board structure thatsubstantially obviates one or more of the problems due to limitationsand disadvantages of the related art.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a board that islightweight yet is strong enough to support heavy weights.

Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth inthe descriptions that follow and in part will be apparent from thedescription, or may be learned by practice of the invention. Theobjectives and other advantages of the invention will be realized andattained by the structure particularly pointed out in the writtendescription and claims thereof as well as the appended drawings.

In order to accomplish the objects of the present invention, the presentinvention provides a board having a face board, a base board, a centerlayer positioned between the face board and the base board, and a framestructure encircling the center layer between the face board and thebase board, the frame structure having a plurality of tubular sectionsfixed to the face board and the base board, and the face board, the baseboard and the center layer are combined to form a single unit.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description andthe following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and areintended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a cut-away perspective view of a board structure according toan embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a portion of the structure of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a cut-away perspective view of a board structure according toanother embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a portion of the structure of FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The following detailed description is of the best presently contemplatedmodes of carrying out the invention. This description is not to be takenin a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of illustratinggeneral principles of embodiments of the invention. The scope of theinvention is defined by the appended claims.

FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate one embodiment of a lightweight man-made boardthat includes a face board 1, a base board 2, and a center layer 3 thatare combined as a single unit. The center layer 3 is positioned betweenthe face board 1 and the base board 2. A frame structure comprised oftubular sections 31 is provided on the four sides of the center layer 3to encircle the center layer 3. The two surfaces of the frame structureare adhered to the face board 1 and the base board 2. An intermediateboard 32 is arranged in the cavity enclosed by the tubular sections 31,the face board 1 and the base board 2, and is fixed in the cavity bysupport blocks 33 that are connected to the face board 1 and the baseboard 2. There is a space left between the intermediate board 32 and theface board 1 and the base board 2. A space is also left between thetubular sections 31 and the support blocks 33. All of these spaces arefilled with a filler 34. Several installation grooves 4 used for hanginggoods can be formed in the outer surface of the face board 1, as long asthe intermediate board 32 in the center layer 3 has sufficient thicknessand strength.

The tubular sections 31 may be hollow plastic tube sections. Theintermediate board 32 may be made of a medium density fiberboard withsufficient strength. The filler 34 may be light foam. The support blocks33 may be solid wood blocks.

In this embodiment, since hollow plastic tubes are used as tubularsections 31, the weight of the overall structure is reduced whilesufficient strength is provided. In addition, the entire frame structureformed by the tubular sections 31 can prevent moisture from entering thecenter layer 3, and the entire board can be prevented from experiencingdeformation caused by moisture. In order to reduce the weight whileproviding the overall board with sufficient strength, a stable boxstructure is formed inside center layer 3. This box structure is formedby the intermediate board 32 made of a medium density fiberboard,support blocks 33 fixed on the four sides of the intermediate board 32,and the base board 2. The box structure is integrated with the faceboard 1 through the support blocks 33. This provides the lightweightman-made board with sufficient bending strength. Therefore, even wheninstallation grooves 4 are formed in the surface of the face board 1 andgoods are hung on the board, the overall board will not experiencebending deformation. Also, the light filler 34 that is filled in thehollow parts of the central layer prevents the face board 1 and the baseboard 2 from caving in due to local stress, without increasing theoverall weight of the board.

FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate modifications made to the lightweight man-madeboard in FIGS. 1 and 2. The difference between this embodiment and theembodiment in FIGS. 1 and 2 is that the installation grooves 4 areformed in the outer surface of both the face board 1 and the base board2, and a reinforcing board 35 is added between the intermediate board 32and the face board 1 inside the center layer 3. The reinforcing board 35is fixed to the face board 1 and the base board 2 with the aid of thesupport blocks 33 fixed on its four sides. A filler 34 fills the spaceleft between the reinforcing board 35 and the face board 1.

In the board of FIGS. 3 and 4, the intermediate board 32 and thereinforcing board 35 in the center layer 3 form two stable boxstructures with the support blocks 33 as well as the face board 1 andthe base board 2. The two box structures are both integrated with theface board 1 and the base board 2. The overall strength of the board isfurther increased in this way. Also, the symmetrical nature of the boardfurther guarantees the anti-deformation capability of the lightweightman-made board.

The boards according to embodiments of the present invention have thefollowing features and benefits. The board has a three-layer structurethat includes a face board 1, a center layer 3, and a base board 2. Thesurrounding sides of the intermediate board 32 are sealed with a framestructure. The three layers are therefore combined into a single unit,and the frame structure can thus prevent the entire board fromexperiencing warping deformation. Since the center layer 3 has manyhollow parts that are filled with a light filler 34, the overall weightof the board is reduced. This solves the problem of excessive weightduring transportation.

In addition, in order to provide the board with sufficient strength, anintermediate board 32 with certain strength is added inside the framestructure of the center layer 32. The support blocks 33 fixed on theenclosing sides of the intermediate board 32 enable the intermediateboard 32 to form a stable box structure together with the base board 2.This gives the overall board sufficient bending strength. Thus, even ifinstallation grooves are formed in the face board 1, the overallstrength of the board will not be affected. When the frame structure ismade of a hollow plastic material, moisture can be prevented frompenetrating into the center layer 3. The entire board can thereby beprevented from experiencing deformation caused by moisture.

While the description above refers to particular embodiments of thepresent invention, it will be understood that many modifications may bemade without departing from the spirit thereof. The accompanying claimsare intended to cover such modifications as would fall within the truescope and spirit of the present invention.

1. A board comprising: a face board; a base board; a center layerpositioned between the face board and the base board; and a framestructure encircling the center layer between the face board and thebase board, the frame structure having a plurality of tubular sectionsfixed to the face board and the base board, wherein the face board, thebase board and the center layer are combined into a single unit.
 2. Theboard of claim 1, wherein a space defined between the face board and thebase board is filled with a filler.
 3. The board of claim 1, wherein acavity is defined by the face board, the base board, and the framestructure, and the center layer further includes an intermediate boardarranged in the cavity.
 4. The board of claim 3, wherein theintermediate board is fixed in the cavity by support blocks that areconnected to the face board and the base board.
 5. The board of claim 3,further comprising a reinforcing board arranged between the intermediateboard and the face board.
 6. The board of claim 5, wherein theintermediate board and the reinforcing board are fixed to the face boardand the base board by support blocks.
 7. The board of claim 1, furthercomprising installation grooves formed in the face board.
 8. The boardof claim 1, further comprising installation grooves formed in the baseboard.
 9. The board of claim 1, wherein the tubular sections of theframe structure are made of hollow plastic tubes.
 10. The board of claim2, wherein the filler is a light foam.
 11. The board of claim 3, whereinthe intermediate board is made of a medium density fiberboard,particleboard, or plywood.
 12. The board of claim 4, wherein the supportblocks are made of solid wood.